The present invention relates to a sports glove (athletic glove) in which stretch fabric is used, and more particularly to a sports glove having a portion preventing over extension of the stretch fabric to achieve better fit.
In the past, a number of gloves partly including stretch fabric have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-9671, a golf glove in which a highly stretching material is used for each fourchette is described. In Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-31252, a golf glove is disclosed in which stretching cloths are stitched across the region extending from bases of a little finger, a middle finger and a third finger of the back of a hand to an upper region of an index finger, on the strap-attaching side of the body of the hand, and a back portion of a thumb approximately up to its distal interphalangeal joint. In Japanese Utility Model Laying-Open No. 5-51383, a golf glove is disclosed in which a higher stretchable sheet material is used on the back portion rather than a palm portion and low-stretchable fabric is used on the periphery of the proximal end (the portion corresponding to the knuckle) of the thumb. Known sports glove is shown in FIG. 9, in that a portion particularly subjected to extension force is punched out or cut out from the end of fabric and stretch fabric is stitched thereon.
The golf gloves disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication Nos. 61-9671 and 1-31252 only emphasize the influence caused by a highly stretchable material or stretch fabric extending at the time of gripping a golf club. When one puts on a golf glove, he/she often pulls the wrist opening of the glove, and sometimes the stretch fabric stretches undesirably to prevent one from smoothly putting on the glove. When a player hits a ball, he/she firmly holds the grip, and the grip may slip due to the extension of the stretch fabric, impairing the feeling of perfect fit.
According to the golf glove disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laying-Open No. 5-51383, only small gripping force is required to hold the grip of a golf club, and one can smoothly put on the glove because of low-stretchable fabric arranged on the periphery of the proximal end of the thumb, even when a wrist opening portion is pulled to put on the glove. However, since the entire back portion except for the periphery of the proximal end of the thumb is made of stretch fabric, the feeling of good fit at the time of hitting a ball may still be impaired.
The sports glove shown in FIG. 9 employs stretch fabric stitched only to the portions particularly subjected to the extension force in order to solve the problems described above. This, however, causes not only more difficult sewing due to its complicated design, but also possible impairment of the feeling of good fit due to the seams touching the hand.
The present invention is directed to a solution to the problems described above. An object of the invention is to provide a sports glove ensuring better fit, which can be made by a simple manufacturing method.
A sports glove according to the present invention includes stretch fabric at a part of a back (dorsal) portion thereof and an over-extension-preventing portion for preventing the stretch fabric from overly extending. The back portion herein refers to a portion located on the backside of the hand, including a portion continuously extending from a flat side of the hand (a palm) as long as it is located on the backside.
The over-extension-preventing portion is preferably stitched to the back portion so as to cover a part of the stretch fabric and a part of the back portion.
The over-extension-preventing portion may be formed of a member separated from the back portion or formed using a portion extending from the back portion.
Further, the over-extension-preventing portion preferably extends at least one direction from a longitudinal direction of each finger of the sports glove, a direction from a back wrist portion toward regions between each of the fingers, and a direction in which the fingers are aligned.
The stretch fabric may be arranged across metacarpophalangeal joints of a little finger to an index finger and along a metacarpal bone of the index finger. The over-extension-preventing portion then connects the back portions located on opposite sides of the stretch fabric to each other.
The sports glove includes an index finger base forming a knuckle portion of the index finger, a thumb base forming a knuckle portion of the thumb, and a wrist side portion located on the wrist side of the back portion. The over-extension-preventing portion may extend from a region between the index finger base and the thumb base to the wrist side portion.
In addition to the index finger base, the thumb base and the wrist side portion, the sports glove may also include a third finger base forming a knuckle portion of the third finger. The over-extension-preventing portion has a portion extending from the third finger base to the wrist side portion, a portion extending from the region between the index finger base and the thumb base to the wrist side portion, and a portion extending from the thumb base to the wrist side portion.
The sports glove may include the index finger base, the thumb base, the wrist side portion and also a middle finger base forming a knuckle portion of the middle finger. The over-extension-preventing portion has a portion extending from the middle finger base to the wrist side portion and a portion extending from the portion between the index finger base and the thumb base to the wrist side portion.
The stretch fabric includes a fingertip side portion stitched to portions of each finger from the little finger to the middle finger of the sports glove to cover proximal interphalangeal joints of the fingers. The over-extension-preventing portion is then stitched to at least one finger portion from the little finger to the middle finger, extending in its longitudinal direction so as to cover a part of the fingertip side portion.
The sports glove may include the index finger base, the wrist side portion, and a little finger base forming a knuckle portion of the little finger portion. The stretch fabric extends from a region just below the little finger base to the index finger base toward a curve connecting an upper portion of a metacarpal bone of the little finger with a lower portion of a metacarpal bone of the index finger. In this case, over-extension-preventing portion extends from a region below the index finger base to a region below the little finger base.